Daily Archives: 08/14/2017

My new film, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, was recently released in theaters across the United States. For two years, camera crews accompanied me around the world to visit areas greatly impacted by the climate crisis. From the melting ice sheets of Greenland to the flooded streets of Miami Beach, I saw time and time again how Mother Nature is calling out to remind us what will happen if we don’t take climate action now. And in places like the city of Georgetown, TX, which is moving to 100 percent renewable electricity, I also saw that so many have the will to step up and fight.

That’s why it’s imperative that we all do our part to protect our shared home. I’ve had the great privilege of personally training over 12,000 climate activists as part of our Climate Reality Leadership Corps program, which I’m happy to say is showcased in An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. These activists have shown me what can happen when citizens take a stand, and every day, I’m amazed at their commitment and courage in educating their communities about the climate crisis and empowering them to take action.

We’re at a critical moment in our movement’s history. In An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, you’ll also see what was happening behind the scenes at the UNFCCC’s COP 21, where 195 countries and parties agreed to the Paris Agreement. While nearly every other nation on Earth has committed to ending the climate crisis, the White House recently submitted its intention to withdraw the United States from the historic accord. This decision undermines America’s standing as a leader in the world and threatens to damage humanity’s ability to solve the climate crisis in time.

Make no mistake: if President Trump won’t lead, the American people will. We see this at every one of our Climate Reality Leadership Corps trainings – and we’ll see it again in Pittsburgh – where everyday activists commit to creating a better tomorrow for our planet.

Thanks to the women in this room and people all across the country, we worked really hard — and it’s now been more than three years since Congress passed the Affordable Care Act and I signed it into law. It’s been nearly a year since the Supreme Court upheld the law under the Constitution. And, by the way, six months ago, the American people went to the polls and decided to keep going in this direction. So the law is here to stay.

I’ll do everything in my power to make sure nothing like this happens again by holding the responsible parties accountable, by putting in place new checks and new safeguards, and going forward, by making sure that the law is applied as it should be — in a fair and impartial way.

They exemplified the very idea of citizenship — that with our God-given rights come responsibilities and obligations to ourselves and to others. They embodied that idea. That’s the way they died. That’s how we must remember them. And that’s how we must live.